Do You Sell Your Cakes To Restaurants? How Did You Start?

Business By kss1217 Updated 23 Aug 2012 , 12:16am by kss1217

kss1217 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kss1217 Posted 22 Aug 2012 , 4:40pm
post #1 of 9

I'm pretty new to cake decorating and have gotten some business for friends, family, and a few people through word of mouth. There are a few cakes from scratch that I'm thinking about selling through restaurants. So far I've gotten my food handlers certificate, but don't know what else is needed. How do I do this?

8 replies
jason_kraft Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
jason_kraft Posted 22 Aug 2012 , 5:52pm
post #2 of 9

The first step is to check whether or not you will need a licensed and inspected commercial kitchen, in many states this is still required for wholesale even if a Cottage Food Law is in place.

The next step is to put together a business plan that identifies your target market (both wholesale and end customers), your cost structure, competitive analysis, market prices, etc. This will give you a better idea of whether or not it will make financial sense to sell wholesale.

TheItalianBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheItalianBaker Posted 22 Aug 2012 , 8:39pm
post #3 of 9

Hi kss1217, I have a question..
where/how did u get the food handlers certificate? where do I need to look at? thank you

TheItalianBaker Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
TheItalianBaker Posted 22 Aug 2012 , 8:40pm
post #4 of 9

Hi kss1217, I have a question..
where/how did u get the food handlers certificate? where do I need to look at? thank you

jason_kraft Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
jason_kraft Posted 22 Aug 2012 , 8:46pm
post #5 of 9

We used ServSafe:
http://www.servsafe.com/

kss1217 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kss1217 Posted 22 Aug 2012 , 11:53pm
post #6 of 9

Hi TheItalianBaker!

I went through Safe Food Handlers and they had a 15-hour class at a local hospital, which took two Saturdays (8am-5pm) to complete the course. There were 75 test questions on the test taken at the end of the second day of class. I paid $120. It took a month to get the passing grade and to get the actual certificate, I have to send $35 to my state's Dept of Public Health. The certificate lasts for 5 years. I live in Illinois, but it's also offered in other states, however they offer it online, too. I hope this helps! Here is their website:

http://www.sfhcorp.com/

kss1217 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kss1217 Posted 23 Aug 2012 , 12:06am
post #7 of 9

Thank you, Jason, for the helpful info. I found out from the public health department that I DO need to find a commercial kitchen because my home lacks everything needed to function as an approved home kitchen. Now on to the business plan...Thanks again!

kss1217 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kss1217 Posted 23 Aug 2012 , 12:08am
post #8 of 9

Thank you, Jason, for the helpful info. I found out from the public health department that I DO need to find a commercial kitchen because my home lacks everything needed to function as an approved home kitchen. Now on to the business plan...Thanks again!

kss1217 Cake Central Cake Decorator Profile
kss1217 Posted 23 Aug 2012 , 12:16am
post #9 of 9

Thank you, Jason, for the helpful info. I found out from the public health department that I DO need to find a commercial kitchen because my home lacks everything needed to function as an approved home kitchen. Now on to the business plan...Thanks again!

Quote by @%username% on %date%

%body%